Posts tagged "T-shirt Industry"

Seven Legal Tips (for Your T-shirt Business)

When starting a t-shirt business you might come across confusing legal issues. The legalities of business can’t be over looked. A lot of the legal info you find while conducting your research might seem confusing, so we’re gonna break some of it down so it’s easier to understand. Make sure you know your stuff before you get into legal trouble!Copyright and trademarks- A copyright is the right to copy and gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, financially benefit from it, and other related rights. A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. You should copyright your t-shirt designs and trademark your label name to protect them legally. But, don’t worry about copyright and trademark too early. Until your work is being widely purchased or distributed, copyright may not even be necessary to launch your t-shirt business.Images from the internet- Don’t use ‘em without permission. Images from the internet are copyright, unless you took them, in which case you own the copyright. There are ways of beating the system though: If you use a basic, generic picture, for example, one of a dog, you’d probably get away with it in some cases. Is there is nothing peculiar about the picture you use and it looks like something you could very well have taken, most likely the copyright holder won’t really be able to distinguish the image and wouldn’t waste time trying to hunt you down. On the other hand if you use a picture that’s very specific or complex, for example, a picture of a white pit-bull with black spots wearing a football helmet, you’ll get caught easily.Famous quotes- When using quotes in t-shirt designs you should quote the person who originally said it. Don’t pretend like you made it up. Just give them their credit, even if it’s in super tiny print. You definitely wouldn’t like it if you said something funny one day and saw it on a bunch of t-shirts the next, without any recognition for it.Popular characters- Never use them unless you have a license to do so. Just make up your own characters or get someone else to. Simple as that. Using popular characters in an attempt to sell quick is just plain lazy and uncreative.Writing and signing contracts- Learn the ins and outs of contracts before writing or signing them or you’ll get screwed. Also, don’t sign a contract for anything until you’ve weighed out the options of having the contract signed or not, as well as how you’d feel about your decision to sign when a few months go by. Find some sample contracts online or in books so you get an idea of how they should be formatted.Parodying familiar figures and icons- It’s allowed thanks to the right to parody. Just don’t get too crazy with it. When your parodying becomes overly offensive you may get attacked and or kidnapped by the entourage of figure you’re parodying. Just beware.Political figures- In most cases they can be used. It’s no wonder there are so many political t-shirts on the market. The only situation you wouldn’t be safe using them is if you find a famous photo of a political figure. The photo would most likely be recognized as x photographer’s famous photo, so you’d be in hot water. In addition to political figures you can also use flags, coat of arms, and national symbols.

WHAT LEGAL ISSUES ARE YOU COMING ACROSS?T-ShirtMagazine.com = T-Shirt Madness!

Upcs Barcodes and Rn#, Oh My!

Alot of people coming into the t-shirt industry have tons of questions on what is refered to as the ‘businessy’ side of t-shirt selling and struggle with things like UPCs, barcodes and RN numbers. To make life a little easier, we’re gonna guide you through some research, with the help of some UPC, barcode and RN resource websites. To understand these tricky little terms, know what they actually are first:UPC Universal Product Codes appear as lines of varying widths representing the series of numbers commonly shown below the bars. Barcode scanners, as you will know them from your favorite retailers, read the bars and convert them back to the 12-digit UPC number that they represent. This number is then looked up within the retailer’s inventory system to find the corresponding product name and price that you provided them with when you signed your agreement for them to carry your product . In short, the UPC is a 12-digit unique code for your product represented by scannable bars.RN NUMBER Number assigned to clothing manufacturers for labeling garments. The RN number allows the manufacturer of a certain brand to be determined. It is issued by the FTC to U.S. businesses that manufacture, import, distribute, or sell products covered by the Textile, Wool, and Fur Acts. Businesses can use this number on product labels in lieu of the company name.Information on obtaining RN numbers is available from the Federal Trade Commission.BAR CODE A printed series of parallel bars or lines of varying width that is used for entering data into a computer system. The bars are typically black on a white background, and their width and quantity vary according to application. The bars are used to represent the binary digits 0 and 1, sequences of which in turn can represent numbers from 0 to 9 and be processed by a digital computer. The presence or absence of a bar of a particular width in a particular position in a sequence is read by the computer as either a 0 or 1. Most such codes use bars of only two different widths (thick and thin), though some codes employ four widths. The numbers represented by a bar code are also printed out at its base. A UPC is an example of a bar code. Now that you’ve got them defined, and even narrowed down to only two terms that you actually need to know (UPC and RN Number) let’s take a look at their uses in the clothing industry. You are required to label covered products to show the name or identifying number of a U.S. business responsible for manufacturing or marketing the product or the name of a foreign manufacturer. Therefore, you may use your company business name on the label instead of an RN. The business name is the full name that appears on business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices. It is not a trademark, brand, or designer name (unless that is also the name under which the company conducts business). Alternatively, the goods may be labeled with the RN or business name of the company that is buying the goods from you – such as a distributor or retailer. If you are acquiring the finished products from a U.S. manufacturer, importer, or distributor, they can remain labeled with the RN or business name of that company. RN numbers are available only to businesses residing in the U.S. However, imported goods can be labeled with the name of their foreign manufacturer. Your RN number or your company name belongs on the tags and labels of your t-shirts. The UPC code is assigned to each of your product styles. Not every individual t-shirt you have in stock, but each different kind of t-shirt. For example, a black t-shirt with the word KING on it would have a different UPC from a blue t-shirt with the word QUEEN on it, but the same UPC as all the otehr black t-shirts with the word KING on them.

FOR MORE ON UPCs CHECK OUT UPCCODES.NET FOR MORE ON RN NUMBERS CHECK OUT FTC.GOVT-ShirtMagazine.com = T-Shirt Madness